C1 French Listening Without Usual Methods (ADHD)

[Mirai Le Fey]

I have been learning French for 3 years and have reached a strong B2 level in the language. Listening is a huge point of frustration for me simply because I can't really do it the way everyone says you should online. I have severe ADHD and that massively affects the way I practice listening.

In English here are the things I do NOT do:

Watch TV/Films (because I can't commit/concentrate for that long)
Listen to podcasts (I can't do this even while on walks since I will get distracted by thoughts + surroundings + be very bored)
Listen to the radio (again, not really a medium I like/enjoy)
Listen to audiobooks (I far prefer written texts since I can read much quicker - when I read books in any language I have to finish it within 2/3 days otherwise there's no chance I will finish it. I read sixteen books last year and every single one was finished with 2 days after gaining a burst of motivation - I simply cannot do the whole 20-pages-a-day-thing)
Listen to music that isn't related to my special interest

These are pretty much all the things that people say to do in order to practice listening in languages. I have noticed I need to complete finite tasks in order to do literally anything. 2 weeks ago I finished my first novel in French, and I read it in 2 days simply because that's the only way I can cope. But I need to be in a super specific mood in order to do that so I can't just give myself a longterm goal of reading a book every week. I can't even do this in English so how on earth am I supposed to do this in another language?

When I am feeling understimulated I can't focus on anything in any language for more than 2-3 minutes. In a weird way though, I can still learn languages in this state because I'll bounce around resources for 3 hours going from finite task to finite task (like reading a few paragraphs of an article, watching a YT video for a few minutes, memorising a list of vocabulary, writing fanfiction for a few minutes, texting someone on tandem).

Immersion looks very different for me since I can't really multitask at all (so listening on walks/in showers/during chores isn't an option), for other languages I need my full concentration on the clip in order to understand, also I get fatigued quickly with listening for a while.

I watched a Robert Mcpherson video about listening comprehension (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsucpD-hqyw&t=339s) where he says one of the stages of comprehension is understanding chunk after chunk but being unable to keep up with the whole text. This is where I'm at with French rn. I can feel C1 is one big push of concentrated study away but I don't know how to do that push in a way that suits my ADHD.

How can I practice listening in ways that are suited to my ADHD and how can I reach C1 specifically through this? If you don't have/know much about ADHD then please don't respond to this post.

[Le Baron]

I have problems sitting through entire films (even in English) and very long audio. However, I break them up into sections, usually over the same day. Once I'm distracted I stop and do the other thing before going back.

It seems to me that since the active task of reading keeps you working longer than the passive act of listening, you should have transcripts while listening, if you can get them . It doesn't mean you even have to read it all, but it's something to actively follow when you feel yourself drifting away. With audiobooks that are word-for-word recordings of novels, this is ideal.

However, this is not the same as just listening. No-one here has a cure for ADHD or can vanquish its effects with any clever tricks. Listening for learning is pretty much how it's going to be listening while using, at least until you are fully active. The best advice is to not listen to a single person speaking; to be interested in the subject of the audio; to stop when you have to and work in pieces.

If my response is no good to you, you can disregard it. I tried.

[Kraut]

I know nothing about it and googled for ADHD and "curiosity". And there seems to be a direction to go: I used telephone pranks (canulars téléphoniques) in my French classes and always got all the pupils' attention. Try this and see if it triggers you:

https://soundcloud.com/nonolimit-lp/jea ... -ascenseur

[Lawyer&Mom]

Ted Talks? 15 minutes of educated people speaking about interesting things? Do one then do something else?

[german2k01]

Listen to radio plays (hörspiel) because your mind is constantly occupied by a change of voice and music. There are various actors/charcaters communicating with each other. With audiobooks there is only one narrator. Easy to distract off. I love listening to radio plays.

I also do repetive listening to the stuff I watch actively for example. I pick my favorite Youtube channel in German. I watch videos actively. Then I convert these videos to mp3 files and then listen to them many times while walking, cooking, lying down on my bed. Then after a few days of doing this I go for another set of videos and their corresponding mp3 files. Do the same drill again.

Saying prayers or even writing a gratitude journal daily and being Thankful to God will calm down your mind. At the end of the day, the world is a stage play we all are characters in it; it will end when the right time comes for us. Why worry about little things in our head. Our stay is temporary and worries/trivalities of life mean zero in the face of death. They mean nothing so why waste our energy over these silly/unwanted thoughts. Instead enjoy our life. Life is short.

Issues like anxiety and ADHD can be very much curable without taking meds. Instead of carrying burden of these thoughts put them away in the hands of God by simply performing an act of gratitude towards God. Simply write a gratitude journal.

[DaveAgain]

There are some very short form French sitcoms, where an episode is just one/two scenes e.g. Camera Café, Parents mode d'emploi, Un gars, une fille.

[leosmith]

Maybe something on this list will appeal to you.